Paper-slitting machine



Marca 24, 1931 R. s. JOHNSTON ET AL 1,797,662

PAPER SLITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 28. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l FLL ?10 L@ a' 74/ 76 60 2f 'IIIIIIIIIIIIHII 4 l 7,., 'vim I March 24, 1931. R. s. JOHNSTON ET AL 1,797,662

PAPER SLITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 28, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 24, 17931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

RALPH S. JOHNSTON AND SAMUEL M. BRATTON, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, AS-

SIGNORS TO THE PUSE'Y & JONES CORPORATION, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, .A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE PAPER-SLITTING MACHINE Application led August 28, 1928. Serial No. 302,608.

This invention relates to paper slitting machines, and particularly to machines of that class which are designed to form part of, or to operate in conjunction with, highspeed paper-making machines of the Fourd rinier type, which produces a wide web that has to be slit lengthwise to form a number of webs of standard width.

In paper slitters of the kind referred to lo above as ordinarily constructed heretofore, the individual slitters, in the form of rotating disks, have been all mounted upon a single shaft supported in bearings at its ends; and as, .in the development of the art, the speed of such machines and the width of the web of paper produced thereby have gradually increased, it has been found necessary to make said shaft carrying the slitters, as well as the slitters themselves, of larger and larger zo diameters, in order to give the shaft sufficient strength, and to keep the number of revolutions within practical limits, to balance the shaft properly, and to keep down vibration. This increase in the diameters of g5 the slitters and their supporting shaft has given rise to troubles and diliiculties of various sorts. It has been proposed to avoid these troubles and diffculties by providing each slitter with an individual driving motor,

thus doing away with the common supporting shaft. But this solution of the problem is not entirely satisfactory, because of the expense of the individual motors, and for other reasons. Therefore it is the object of the present invention to provide a mounting for the several slitters of a paper slitting machine such that all the slitters (meaning the lower slitters which are the ones of each pair that are ordinarily power driven) may be mounted upon a common shaft which may be driven by its individual motor, regardless of the width of the web or the speed of operation, and such that this may be accomplished without increasing the diameter either of the shaft or of the slitters beyond a normal and practical size. It is a further objectV of the invention that the mounting of each lower (or power driven) slitter be such that it can readily be adjusted, independently of and relatively to the other lower slitters, to different working positions, or can be removed from the machine altogether; and such that any desired number of slitters may be mounted upon and operated by the common driving shaft, in order that the web may be slit lengthwise into any desired number of strips, and that these may be severally of any desired width.

In accomplishing the above and other objects of the invention, each of the lower slitters, which may be of standard make (and paired with a. cooperating top slitter .also of standard make), is preferably mounted upon a sleeve which surrounds the common shaft and is connected with itin such manner as to rotate therewith and to be adjustable lengthwise thereof, that is to say, transversely tothe travel of the web each sleeve being supported in bearings, preferably ball bearings, which serve also as supporting bearings for the common shaft itself. Therefore the load of each slitter and its sleeve is supported by the bearings which also Vsupport the shaft at the position of each of the slitters 5 the construction being such that the shaft has to take care only of the torque incident to the rotating of the slitters. Thus each slitter is carried by its own individual supporting unit, which serves also as a supporting bearing for the shaft, and which unit can be moved as a whole to any working position along the shaft, or can be removed entirely from the machine. Hence the common driving shaft vcan be made relatively quite small in diameter, and it can be connected directly at one end (at the back of the machine) to a driving motor, while at the other end (at the front of the ma.- chine) the frame of the machine can be of open design to admit of adding or removing slitter units as desired, without interference.

k'The connection of the sleeve to the shaft to admit of the adjustment of the former upon the latter may be conveniently effected by means of a spline and groove connection; or the sleeve may have a sliding fit on the shaft and be detachably fastened thereto by means of a set screw, clamp collar, or otherwise.

The accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification illustrate, by way of example, two embodiments of the present invention,

Fig. 1 being an elevation partly in section transversely of the travel of the web of paper;

Fig. 2 a partial section lengthwise of the slitter shaft on a larger scale than Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4e a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 5 a partial section, similar to Fig. l, illustrating a third embodiment thereof.

Referring first to the construction shown in Figs. 1-3, the slitter supporting units, hereinafter described in detail, are all mounted upon a rigid cross-beam 6, the full width of the machine, which cross-beam may be supported by side frames 7, as shown in Fig. 1. Each slitter unit has a base plate 8, which rests upon and is adjustable lengthwise of beam 6, being bolted thereto when in working position by bolts (not shown) which may pass through openings such as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, beam 6 has a shallow groove 9 extending from end to end thereof, and each baseplate 8 has correspondingly shaped ribs or splines 10, 10 that engage in said groove.

The slitter shaft 12 extends entirely across the machine as usual. It may be driven by belt and pulley or by other gearing from any source of power; but as shown in Fig. 1, it is driven by a directly connected electric motor 13.

Each of the lower slitters 14 is rigidly but adjustably secured, as by set-screws 15 (Fig. 2), to a sleeve 16 which surrounds shaft 12, and is connected therewith, as by a spline or key 17 engaging in a groove 18 that extends lengthwise of the shaft from end to end and having` projecting lugs 17a-1'?a at opposite ends engaging notches in the ends of the sleeve respectively (Figs. 2 and 3); so that the sleeve and all parts attached thereto, including the slitter 14, will rotate with the shaft but may be adjusted lengthwise thereof to any working position, or may be removed from the same when desired.

Each sleeve 1G is supported in bearings carried by base plate 8, which bearings support the entire load of the slitter 1-1 and also supports the shaft 12, s0 that the shaft 12 has only to sustain the torque of the several slitters. rlhese bearings may be advantageously constructed as shown in Fig. 2, there being two bearings of similar construction for each slitter, one on each side thereof at each end of the sleeve. Each bearing comprises a standard or upright 20 secured to base plate 8, and carrying a ball-bearing pillow block 21, to which is attached interiorly the, outer ring or ball race 22, the interior ring o-r race 23 being attached to the sleeve, and the balls 24A being disposed between them, preferably in staggered relation, as shown. Packing rings 26, 27 are provided to prevent escape of the lubricant.

rlhe upper slitter 30 is of well known standard construction, and it is supported to cooperate with the lower slitter 1li and to be adjustable to the position thereof in the usual way, being driven by friction from the lower slitter. v

is will be understood from the foregoing description and from the drawings referred to therein, each suppcrtinfY unit comprises the base plate S, the standards 20, 2O secured to said plate, and the sleeve 16 extending between said standards and supported therein by the ball bearings. Each slitter unit comprises saic supporting unit with the addition of the slitter 1l secured to said sleeve. Each slitter unit is adjusted to any working position crosswise of the machine, it being necessary only to unbolt the base plate 8 from the cross-beam 6, when the whole unit can be slid to any desired position on the latter and along the shaft 12` and then be bolted in place. Gr since the frame at the front of the machine (left side, Fig. 1) is of open design, the slitter' units can be removed one by one; or additl on al units can be mounted on the cross-beam, the sleeve of each being operatively connected with the slitter shaft by causing the spline or key 17 on the sleeve 16 to engage in the groove 18 in the shaft 12.

ln Fig. 1 three slitter units are shown. On every medium width machine there will be at least three slitters, one at eac-h end and one in the middle; and on the wider machines there will be at least two slitters intermediate between those at the two ends. Thus there will always be ample and distributed support for the shaft, making it unnecessary to increase the diameter thereof no matter how wide thc machine.

In the construction shown in Fig. 4, the slitter lila is mounted directly upon shaft 12instead of upon the sleeve 46, being entirely disconnected from the latter. Then this embodiment of the invention is adopted, the attachment of the slitter to the shaft may be effected in any suitable way which admits ofready detachment for purposes of removal or of adjustment to another working position. is shown, the slitter is provided with a split hub S2 of common construction, having ears 33 each'with a threaded perforation whereby the hub can be clamped around the shaft by means ofa screw bolt 34. In this embodiment of the invention, it is necessary to move the slitters as well as the bearings when changing the former to another working position.

The construction of bearings, as shown in Fig. 4, is similar in most material respects to that shown in the other figures. 40 is a standard having a base adapted to rest directly upon the cross-beam 6, said base having along its bottom surface a. rib or spline 40a adapted to engage the groove 9 (Fig. 3) in the top of the beam. Ball bearing pillow block 41 carried by said standard has interiorly thereof two outer rings or ball races 42, 42, the corresponding interior rings or ball races 43, 43 being secured to sleeve 46, and the balls 44 being interposed between said inner and outer rings or ball rac-es. Sleeve 46 is connected to shaft 12, to rotate therewith, by spline or key 47 engaging in the groove 18 of the shaft and having lugs 47, 4"a at opposite ends thereof engaging notches in the ends of the sleeve. The standard 40 may be secured in the desired position along the beam 6 by one or more bolts (not shown) and with this arrangement it is possible to supply the shaft with as many bearing units as may be required for holding it against excessive vibration, without regard to the number of slitters in use.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 5 the parts 41, 42, 44, 46, 47 of the bearing are the same as in Fig. 4, but the cutter 14a, instead of being attached directly to the shaft is mounted upon an extension 46a of sleeve 46, and is fixed thereto in any suitable way, as by means of a set screw 48.

Other structural modifications may obviously be made without departing from the invention.

That is claimed is:

1. In a paper slitting machine, the combination with a power-driven slitter-shaft of a plurality of slitters driven by said shaft and adjustable to different working positions lengthwise thereof, a plurality of units for supporting said shaft and slitters, each unit comprising a sleeve encirclino' said shaft and attached thereto in such manner as to be rotated thereby and to be movable axially thereon, and bearings by which said sleeve is supported and rotates, the unit as a whole being adjustable to various positions lengthwise of said shaft.

2. In a paper-slitting machine, the combination of a machine frame, a power-driven slitter-shaft, a plurality of supporting units mounted on said frame and each unit comprising a sleeve encircling said shaft and attached thereto in such manner as to be rotated thereby and to be movable axially thereon, a slitter carried by said sleeve, and bearings by which said sleeve is supported and g rotates, said unit as a whole being adjustable to various positions lengthwise of said shaft.

3. In a paper-slitting machine, the combination of a machine frame, al slitter shaft, a plurality of slitters rotatable therewith and 'i adjustable axially thereof, and a plurality of supporting bearings for said shaft mounted on said frame to be movable axially of said shaft, the shaft being power-driven by means of connections at one end and the frame of the machine being open at the opposite end of said shaft to permit of the ready removal and replacement of said slitters and bearings.

4. In a paper-slitting machine, the combination of a machine frame, a plurality of supporting units spaced across said frame and one or more thereof being adjustable to different positions, a slitter rotatably supported by each of said units, and a driving shaft common to all of said slitters and said shaft being supported in bearings on said supporting units.

5. In a paper-slitting machine, the combination of a machine frame, a plurality of supporting unit-s spaced across said frame and one or more thereof being adjustable to different positions, a slitter rotatably supported by each of said units, a driving shaft common to all of said slit-ters and connected thereto to drive the same, said frame of the machine being open at one end of said shaft to permit of the ready removal and replacement of said supporting units and slitters.

6. In a paper-slitting machine, the combination of a machine frame, a plurality of supporting units spaced across said frame and one or more thereof being adjustable to different positions, a slitter rotatably supported by each of said units, and a driving shaft common to all of said slitters and connected thereto to drive the same, said shaft being supported in bearings on said supporting units and said frame of the machine being open at one end of said shaft to permit of the ready removal and replacement of said supporting units and slitters.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification.

RALPH S. JOHNSTON. SAMUEL M. BRATTON. 

